TheFlorida Apartment Association (FAA) has retained Gary
Scarboro, Director of Education and Government Affairs at the
Apartment Association of Greater Orlando (AAGO), to serve also
as FAA Government Affairs Director. As FAA’s first Government
Affairs Director, Scarboro will build the government affairs
program for FAA from the ground up. Scarboro also pioneered the
AAGO Government Affairs program four years ago and currently
directs the award winning AAGO Education Department.

Click here
for more information about this great addition to the Florida
Apartment Association.

LEGISLATIVE
DAYS ARE RAPIDLY APPROACHING

Please
make sure you sign up for either the Florida Apartment
Association Legislative Day or the Florida Association of
Residential Property Managers Legislative Day scheduled for
March 30 and 31 as soon as possible. There is strength in
numbers, and we want this year’s attendance to be the largest
ever!

Click here
for full information regarding the Legislative Days in
Tallahassee and how you can sign up today.

IS
THAT UNIT ABANDONED?

The
electric is off, the water is off, the unit is filthy and filled
with trash, empty beer cans, some clothes, piled up, unclaimed
mail and the neighbor tells you that they saw the tenant pack up
and leave last week. Is the unit abandoned? Can you take
possession of the unit and get it ready for the new tenant? Not
if you want to follow the law and protect yourself from
liability!

You
just took over management of a unit from another company or a
homeowner who was self-managing. You send the tenant a letter
announcing that you are the new manager and they need to send
you the rent from this point on. Do they have to send you the
rent now? Not according to some judges.

Are
you aware that most insurance companies do not cover injuries
sustained by people using trampolines, and the mere presence of
a trampoline on the property could result in the insurance
company canceling the insurance on the premises? Does your lease
adequately address this issue? Can you force the tenant to
remove the trampoline?

Click herefor
a discussion of tenant activities affecting insurance coverage
and what you can do in your lease

CHANTAL
BACHAR - INDUSTRY LEADER OF THE MONTH

As
the Statewide Director of Property Management for Coldwell
Banker Residential Real Estate, Chantal Bachar (formerly Chantal
Davis) oversees all long-term and short-term rental operations
throughout Florida. Her department manages over 7,000 units
throughout 7 major metropolitan regions. Prior to this, Chantal
served as the regional manager for Coldwell Banker McFadden and
Sprowls property management, which was acquired by her present
employer in 2002. Mrs. Bachar keeps on top of the industry
through extensive continuing education. She is often called
upon to advise managers in other states within the Coldwell
Banker family, as they seek to improve their businesses. In her
spare time, Chantal is an avid fisherman and boater. She resides
in the quaint fishing village of Osprey, just outside of
Sarasota, with her husband Dr. Craig Bachar. How does she find spare
time!!!???.

THE
FAIR HOUSING CORNER - TENANTS OR UNTRAINED PERSONS ACTION
AS AGENTS
By Cathy L. Lucrezi, Attorney at Law

Be careful
of having tenants or untrained staff members act as your
agents. Their discriminatory acts could be held against you!
In a recent case, a landlord routinely had one of his tenants
act as an informal “agent” – showing apartments to applicants
and collecting rents from other tenants. In at least one
instance, the tenant-agent told an applicant that the landlord
did not like to rent to a particular group. That off-hand
remark caused the landlord to be a defendant in a fair housing
case, which the landlord ultimately settled by paying the
applicant. The landlord learned that it is not always helpful
to have a tenant “help out” with the landlord’s duties. The same
situation can occur when you fail to have staff members
thoroughly trained in Fair Housing.

Looking for some informative fair
housing training that you can do in your pajamas? All you need
is a computer and
http://fairhousing.iccsafe.org/. The website is sponsored
by HUD and the International Code Council. The course covers
fair housing issues involving accessibility. That means you can
learn about ramps, parking spaces, curb cuts, elevators, and
various other items that affect how well handicapped people can
live at the premises. Best of all, the 12 hour course is free.
A certificate is issued for successful completion of the course.